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Thursday, February 04, 2010
Around New Mexico
FOR THE RECORD: This story gave an incorrect figure for the water rate in Rio Rancho. The rate for single residential customers is $3.23 for the first 10,000 gallons.
Police: Teen Playing With Gun
State Police are backing off from their report that an Española teen's death came in a game of Russian roulette and now say the boy was "playing foolishly with a loaded gun."
David D. Chacon, 15, died Saturday morning after he shot himself in the head at a home in Alcalde. A witness said Chacon pointed the gun to his head and pulled the trigger once, but it didn't fire. However, the weapon discharged on his second pull of the trigger, according to State Police spokesman Peter Olson.
Based on witness statements provided to police, Chacon was either playing alone with the gun or was with another person at the home. One witness said he saw someone else point the gun at his or her head and pull the trigger before Chacon did, Olson said.
Olson told the Journal on Tuesday the teen was playing Russian roulette, but he said Wednesday that was not the case because the weapon was a semi-automatic pistol.
"You can't really call what happened Russian roulette," Olson said, "simply because Russian roulette is played with a revolver. You put one bullet in the cylinder and spin the cylinder. And you take turns pulling the trigger."
40 Monument Acres Annexed
The city of Albuquerque will annex about 40 acres within Petroglyph National Monument as part of a plan to help preserve the land as open space.
City Council unanimously approved the annexation earlier this week. The parcel lies west of Rainbow NW, between Paseo del Norte and Faciel, in what's known as the Northern Geologic Window, according to city documents.
"This was considered to be a key piece of the northern part of the monument," City Councilor Isaac Benton said. "The edges of this property would otherwise be subject to development."
Bernalillo County agreed to the annexation. The land will receive an open space zoning designation, and low-impact recreation will be allowed there.
Rio Rancho Likely To Buy Water
The city of Rio Rancho likely would be the primary customer for water from a desalination plant Sandoval County plans to build on top of a brackish aquifer in the Rio Puerco Valley.
County officials hope to reach an agreement with the city to buy the output from a 5 million gallon per day plant that would cost about $100 million to build.
City Manager James Jimenez said another source of water would reduce the city's need to pump from the aquifer and would delay the need to buy additional water rights.
A report by a firm the county hired estimated the plant could produce water for between $5.75 and $6.75 per 1,000 gallons, depending on the source used to power the plant.
If the county covered 50 percent of the plant's cost with state or federal grant money, the cost would be reduced to $4.75 per 1,000 gallons. Grant funding for the entire project would drop the cost to $1.90 per 1,000 gallons, according to the report.
Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority charges $1.89 per 1,000 gallons, and Rio Rancho charges $3.23 per 1,000 gallons up to 10,000 gallons.
White History Month Rejected
FARMINGTON — A Farmington man has proposed a White History Month, but the City Commission has rejected the idea.
Zang Wood says it's not so much that he wants White History Month, but he doesn't want cultures promoted over one another. Wood says everyone should be treated equally, and that promoting one culture or race over any other is a bad thing.
City Commissioner Randy Joslin says Farmington piggybacks on federally designated cultural awareness months. It recognizes Native American Culture Month in January, Black History Month in February and Hispanic heritage in the fall.
Joslin says he hopes those would be a cause for celebration, not division.
Ex-Captain Sentenced to Prison
LAS CRUCES — A former U.S. Army captain has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for receiving and possessing images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct with adults.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Albuquerque said 56-year-old David Dube of Mesilla Park also will be under supervised release for the rest of his life.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began investigating Dube in 2008 after receiving information about him from the New York City Police Department.
Authorities seized computers and other evidence from Dube's home during a search before arresting him in November 2008.
Bingaman Wants DHS Help
Sen. Jeff Bingaman is asking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to crack down on criminals who smuggle stolen cars from the United States to Mexico.
Bingaman says seven of the 10 metropolitan statistical areas with the worst motor vehicle losses are on or along the U.S.-Mexico border.
He says the thefts raise car insurance premiums for everyone.
Bingaman has asked the department to deploy license plate readers at outbound inspection stations at all the international ports of entry in New Mexico and El Paso.
He also wants the department to increase its use of cameras and computer systems, boost intelligence sharing with local and state law enforcement, and work with Mexico to recover more stolen vehicles.
25 Recovering From Poisoning
FARMINGTON — Life is returning to normal for 25 people exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning during a birthday party Saturday afternoon.
The most critically impaired patients were taken to the Hyperbaric Medical Center of New Mexico in Santa Fe.
Nine people — three women and six children — were placed inside an air chamber used to treat patients with carbon monoxide poisoning. The other 16 people were treated locally and released.
Medical Center operations manager Gregory Thomas said their color returned, their headaches were gone, and their general mood was much more elevated.
San Juan County authorities said the 25 people were poisoned by an outdoor propane heater used to heat a closed and unventilated garage.
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